The G. A. R. vs. The Ku-Klux, 



>o:^c 



A FEW SUGGESTIONS SUBMITTED FOR THE CONSIDERATION 

OF THE BUSINESS MEN AND THE WORKING MEN 

OF THE NORTH. 



BY W. H. GANNON. 



PUBLISHED BY 

W. F. Brown & Company, 50 Bromfiekl Street, 

BOSTON. 




t_Cc 



^MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF 
THE UNITED STATES. 



To the House of Represe7tfatives : 

In answer to the resolution of the House of Rep- 
resentatives of January 25th, I have the honor to sub- 
mit the following, accompanied by the report of the 
Attorney-General, to whom the resolution was re- 
ferred : Representations having been made to me 
that in certain portions of South Carolina a condition 
of lawlessness and terror exists, I requested the then 
Attorney-General (Akerman) to visit the State, and 
after a personal examination to report to me the facts 
in relation to the subject. On the i6th of October 
la'st he addressed a communication from South Caro- 
lina, in which he stated that in the counties of Spar- 
tanburg, York, Chester, Union, Laurens, Newbury, 
Fairfield, Lancaster and Chesterfield there were com- 
binations for the purpose of preventing the free po- 
litical action of citizens who were friendly to the Con- 
stitution and the Government of the United States, 
and of depriving the emancipated class of 'the equal 
protection of the laws. These combinations embrace 
al least two-thirds of the active white men of those 
counties and have the sympathy and countenance of a 



majority of the other third. They are connected with 
similar combinations in other counties and States, 
and are no doubt a part of a grand system of criminal 
associations pervading most of the Southern States. 
The members are bound to obedience and secrecy 
by oaths which they are taught to regard as of a 
higher obligation than the lawful oath taken before 
civil magistrates. They are organized and armed. 
They effect their objects by personal violence, often 
extending to murder. They terrify witnesses, they 
control juries in the State courts, and sometimes in 
the courts of the United States. Systematic spying 
is one of the means by which the prosecution of the 
members is defeated. From information given by 
officers of the State and of the United States, and by 
credible private citizens, I am justified in affirming 
that the instances of criminal violence perpetrated by 
these combinations within the last twelve months, in 
the above named counties, could be reckoned by 
thousands. I received information of a similar import 
from various sources, among which were the Joint 
Committee of Congress upon Southern Outrages, the 
officers of the State, the military officers of the United 
States on duty in South Carolina, the United States 
Attorney and Marshal, and other officers of the Gov- 
ernment, repentant and abjuring members of those 
unlawful organizations, persons specially employed 
by the Department of Justice to detect crimes against 



the United States, and from other credible sources. 
Most, if not all of this information, except what I de- 
rived from the Attorney-General, came to me orally, 
and was to the effect that the said counties were 
under the sway of powerful combinations, popularly 
known as the Ku-Klux Klan, the objects of which 
are, by force and terror, to prevent all political action 
not in accord with the views of the members, to de- 
prive colored citizens of the right to bear arms, and 
of the right of a free ballot, to suppress the schools 
in which colored children were taught, and to reduce 
the colored people to a condition closely allied to 
that of slavery ; that these combinations were organ- 
ized and armed, and had rendered the local law in- 
effectual to protect the classes whom they desired to 
oppress ; that they had perpetrated many murders, 
and hundreds of crimes of minor degree, all of which 
were unpunished, and that witnesses could not safely 
testify in the courts there unless the more active 
members were placed under restraint. 

(Signed) U. S. Grant. 

Executive Mansion, April 19, 1872. 



[From the Nation^ March 28, 1872.] 
"Seven years have gone over us since the close of 
the war, and, instead of occupying this precious sea- 
son with endeavors to re-establish prosperity, and to 



sow the seeds of a peace, which in another genera- 
tion, would ripen into good will and forgetfulness, 
we have averted our eyes from the whole problem, 
refused to listen to the complaints of men whose 
hands we have tied, and have fallen back upon the 
lazy behef that in some way this great country is 
bound to go through. The unconscious syllogism 
working in the indolent Northern mind seems to be : 
' Things are no doubt very bad — how bad, we 
have 'n't the time, or the inclination to ascertain. 
Examination of such unpleasant matters, if a duty at 
all, is a disagreeable one. After all, the rebels have 
made their own bed, and they must lie in it.' Per- 
haps their sufferings are only the just punishment of 

their crimes But let us make up our minds 

one way or the other — do we or do we not propose 
further to punish the rebel states for their rebellion ? 
If we do, let us at once proceed to devise some in- 
telligent means for that purpose. If we do ?tof, let us 
make haste to protect society [at the South] from the 
ravages of ignorance and rapacity^ or give society [at 
the South] the ttieans to protect itself y 



[From Harper's Weekly, April 20, 1872.] 
"The great question in this quarter [the South] is 
the problem of reconstruction, and I am inclined to 
think that it is the most important national question. 



It is hardly worth our time, at this 'late day, to ask 
whether the reconstruction laws are the wisest that 
could have been devised. They are laws, and have 
been sufficiently tested to convince us that their faith- 
ful administration will lead to the results anticipated by 
those who were instrumental in their enactment. I 
think it better, therefore, to adhere to the original plan^ 
thafi to start off up07i some other theory^ that 7nay lead 

us into NEW DIFFICULTIES, AND POSSIBLY INTO MOST 

DISASTROUS CONFUSION." — General James Long- 
street to Senator W. P. Kellogg. 



HOW TO EXTIRPATE KU-KLUXISM FROM 
THE SOUTH. 
A Preliminary Word. 
Although the Northern People have good cause for 
congratulating themselves on their good fortune in 
solving many of the more important and urgent of 
the very complicated social and political problems 
which the exigencies of the national life have, during 
the last decade, forced upon their attention ; yet their 
very laudable and patriotic efforts to establish an 
unanimity of sentiment and sympathies in national 
matters between the North and the South have not, 
so far, been crowned with complete or deserved suc- 
cess. On the contrary, it would seem that at no 
former period in the history of the nation, was there 



6 

so little good feeling between these two great sections 
as at this very moment. Judging from current events 
that are manifest to all, mutual enmity, deep and vin- 
dictive, is the one great and ever present motive that 
influences, directs, and altogether controls their pub- 
lic intercourse, — which renders both sections unwil- 
ling or unable to prevent the intrusion of sectional 
jealousies and party prejudices into discussions 
even of the most momentous public questions. 
That this is a most unsatisfactory state of affairs, 
no one will deny; and every good citizen, whether 
of the North or of the South, must earnestly desire 
that a more fraternal disposition should animate 
them when dealing with national matters, in order 
hat harmonic political, industrial, and commer- 
cial relations may, as speedily as possible, be estab- 
lished between them. But, How to bring about this 
greatly to be desired consummation? is a question 
which, though .continually discussed during the 
last ten years, is to-day unsolved, and is, therefore, 
an open question, still. Of course, there is ample 
room for any amount of honest difference of opinion 
in regard to the most practicable or desirable man- 
ner of solving it ; so that it is a most prolific source 
of apparently endless speculation. Nevertheless, it 
is good to speculate on it. In fact, the more it is dis- 
cussed, the better, llie continuance of the present 
disgraceful state of affairs (vide President's Message) 



at the South must very seriously reflect upon the intelli- 
gence,tosay nothing of the patriotism, of the Northern 
People, as the dominent party in this great controver- 
sy, and tend to bring discredit upon the institutions of 
the country, generally, with multitudes of people in the 
Old World. The more it is discussed in all its bear- 
ings, the sooner the mass of the people will realize 
this, and perceive the practical necessity, to all 
the best interests of the whole country, of termina- 
ting the present discreditable state of affairs at the 
South. And in the meantime, nothing is lost to the 
general result, though innumerable plans for its solu- 
tion be offered, and upon examination, should fail 
to prove acceptable to the public ; for every re- 
jected plan will contribute something towards hasten- 
ing the production of the one which will ultimately 
prove the successful one. Therefore, let every one, 
who feels inclined to do so, keep "pegging away " at 
it after his own fashion. In this view, one thing, 
however, is to be noted, viz., the economic interests 
involved, raflier than the political and sentimental 
aspects of the question, should receive prominance. 
The latter have obtained their full share of public 
attention, while the former have very generally been 
ignored. 

This unsettled state of the question is our excuse 
for offering the following suggestions in the matter. 

But, first of all, it is to be observed that in view of 



8 

the fact, that the present phase of the difficuUy be- 
tween the North and the South has already continued 
for eight long and dreary years, whereas half that 
time sufficed in which to annihilate the whole of rebel 
armies, the conclusion is inevitable that the Northern 
People are making some very serious mistake in con- 
ducting their case in its present form ; and conse- 
quently, that they must make some radical change in 
their Southern policy, before they can hope to gain 
their cause at the South. 

Now we shall assume (it is unnecessary to trouble 
the reader with arguments in the matter, for if he feels 
inclined to reject these our conclusions, he would not 
be likely to pay any serious attention to our premises 
for them, were they presented) the following points : — 

(1.) That the fatal mistake of the Northern Peo- 
ple in their Southern policy since the dispersion of 
the rebel armies, has been their reliance upon United 
States Marshals and United States soldiers, almost 
exclusively, to represent them at the South ; (2.) that 
their true course to pursue towards the South is to 
colonize it with at least One Hundred Thousand 
(100,000) intelligent, respectable, and industrious 
Northern Working Men; (3.) that, inasmuch as the 
Federal Government found no very great difficulty, 
any time during the late war, in inducing a million 
of Northern men to exchange the security, peace, and 
enjoyment of their homes for the dangers and priva- 



tions of prolonged active warfare in the face of a 
determined and powerful enemy at the South and to 
remain there year after year, until the overthrow of 
their antagonists left them free to return to their 
homes, — there are 100,000 of those same men who 
would gladly return South now with the implements 
of peace in their hands, to make their homes there, 
provided they had the means to enable them to do 
so ; (4.) that One Thousand (1000) Dollars per man 
would be all sufficient to establish them comfortably 
there; (5.) that the required funds would readily 
enough be forthcoming, were the proper parties to 
ask the public for them; and (6.) that the proper 
parties to collect the required funds, and to select 
the proposed colonists, and superintend the suggested 
undertaking, generally, are the GRAND ARMY 
OF THE REPUBLIC, and the various WORKING 
MEN'S SOCIETIES throughout the North. Con- 
sequently, in this view, the only question for consid- 
eration is, How are the societies above named to 
secure the necessary funds, namely, One Hundred 
Million Dollars? for the projected undertaking. 

OUR SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM: 

I. Let every Post of the G. A. R., and every 
Working Man's Society form itself into a Local 
Committee to assist in collecting One Hundred Mil- 
lion Dollars for the purpose of Colonizing the South 



10 

with One Hundred Thousand respectable and indus- 
trious Northern men. 

2. Let the said Committee appoint such persons 
as it shall deem proper, to collect for the said Colon- 
izing Fund : the Committee being, of course, respon- 
sible to the general public in the matter. 

3. Let every such collector be supplied by the 
Committee with a quantity of Numbered Tickets for 
him to dispose of in his own way, at the rate of Ten 
(10) cents per each Ticket; the proceeds of such 
sales to be turned over to the Committee, at least 
once a week. 

4. On a given day of each and every week, let 
Twenty-five (25) per centum of the gross sum so col- 
lected during the week next preceding the said day, 
be by lot distributed by the Committee among a due 
proportion of the then holders of its tickets, each 
distribution canceling all the then outstanding non- 
prize-drawing tickets of the distributing Committee. 

5. Let the remaining Seventy-five (75) per centum 
be retained by the Committee, until by weekly accru- 
ments, it shall amount to the sum, say, for instance, 
of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000) ; which sum 
the Committee shall then divide into Fifty equal 
parts of $1000 each, which parts it shall immediately 
distribute by lot among a proper proportion of such 
persons, as the said Committee shall previously have 
determined to be eligible for membership in a co- 



11 

operative company for the purpose of colonizing the 
South. And 

6. Let the Holders of the Successful Nu77ibers at 
once associate themselves together as a Co-operative 
Company of Colonists for the South, which or- 
ganization being completed, the Committee to deposit, 
to the credit of said Company, the said $50,000 with 
some responsible Banker, which shall constitute such 
banker the Legal Treasurer of the said Company, 
and, as such, he shall hold its funds subject to the 
order only of its duly appointed officers, for the pay- 
ment of the legitimate expenses of the Company.* 

Here, then, briefly stated, are sorne general sug- 
gestions in the matter, which would seem to afford 
the basis of a practical plan for procuring the funds 
required for the project of Colonizing the South with 
100,000 Northern men of the right stamp, and pro- 
vide for the efficient superintendence generally of 
such an undertaking. But let us look at them a little 
closer. 

* Possibly the reader, while not disposed to think unfavor- 
able of the other features of this plan, will object to the pro- 
posed mode of soliciting the required funds, and deem it more 
appropriate to appeal to Congress for them. The writer, how- 
ever, is of opinion, that were Congress even ready to grant the 
whole amount in question for the meie asking, nevertheless it 
would not be desirable to accept it from Congress. To be ef- 
fective the proposed movement must be a bo7ta fide popular 
movement from first to last. 



12 

Obviously, according to 'clause i,' the manage- 
ment of the whole affair, from first to last, would be 
placed in the hands of men who are every way com- 
petent to direct such a movement to a successful 
issue, and who would, in regard to it, start with the 
full and entire confidence of the general public in 
every section of the country: to 'clause 3,' its inau- 
guration would be easy, simple, and inexpensive ; im- 
posing no preliminary expense upon the Local Com- 
mittees, except the cost of printing a few tickets ; 
neither would its successful prosecution make any 
inconvenient, or even noticable demand, on the time 
of the several collectors ; so that, without expense or 
inconvenience to any one, it might, from its very in- 
ception, be secured a real, permanent, popular, and 
most efficient organization, which would go far to en- 
sure its success among the general public : to ' clause 
3,' its requirements would be adapted to popular 
convenience: to 'clause 4/ popular interest would 
be enlisted for its. success: to 'clause 5,' favoritism 
in the distribution of the Company prizes would be 
effectually prevented ; and every possible recipient of 
a share secured a fair chance for it and : to ' clause 6,' 
any squandering of the Company fund would be ren- 
dered very difficult, if not absolutely impossible, and 
the ''Company" would, to begin with, have a recog- 
nized standing in the business community.^ 

But, after all, the real test of the practicalness of 



13 

any plan for the purpose above indicated must be 
the facilities it would afford for procuring the required 
funds, for evidently nothing can be done in the mat- 
ter without money. Money, and a very large amount 
of it, too, is the one thing needful, before the plan could 
take tangible shape even, much less the object in- 
volved be advanced a single step. Well then, What 
would be the result of the operation of the present 
plan'in this respect ? For an answer to this question, 
we must be content with an inference from the reason- 
able probabilities of the case. Now, what are the 
reasonable probabilities of the case ^ Let us see. 

As a little examination of it will show, this plan 
endeavors to interest every class of the whole popu- 
lation of the country in its success. To this end, it 
bases its primary appeal upon purely economic and 
business principles. In return for a reasonable chance 
of receiving considerable more than a fair equivelent 
for his money, it asks lo cents a week of the poor 
man who may desire to invest in it, and requires no 
more from the rich man ; but if the latter be of a 
charitable, philanthropic, patriotic, or generous dispo- 
sition, it presents ample opportunities to him to ex- 
ercise his disposition in its behalf to any extent he 
pleases. It would take care that all sums, whether 
great or small, or from whatever motive given, should 
go forth on the same peaceful and patriotic mission. 
Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that these 



14 

motives would influence the wealthy to contribute 
liberally towards the proposed movement, when it had 
once taken palpable shape, and it is reasonable, also, 
to assume that these contributions, together with 
those from other causes, would, in the aggregate, equal 
a regular weekly contribution of lo cents from one 
in every five of the entire population of any given 
locality. Obviously, this number is altogether too low 
to cover the reasonable probabilities in the case ; it 
might be put as high as four in every five, without 
going beyond them. But let us keep to the former 
number. Now, this datum, applied to any community, 
will give us a good trustworthy answer to our ques- 
tion. Let us, then, apply it, say to the City of New 
York, for 

EXAMPLE. 
That city contains 1,000,000 inhabitants, and our 
datum gives us 200,000 of those as contributing for 
this cause 10 cents each regularly every week ; which 
is $20,000 per week ; and that, minus 25 per cent, 
(vide clause 4) gives $60,000 as the net monthly in- 
come for this cause in that community alone. And 
this sum is abundant to provide a colony of .60 re- 
spectable and industrious Northern men with every 
thing necessary for their establishing themselves com- 
fortably at the South. That is to say, if each of the 
above stated number of the people of that city would 
weekly place a sum of money, so utterly insignificant 



15 

that it is exceeded by the cost of a glass of soda water 
or a cheap cigar, in the hands of men whom they all 
know to be trustworthy and thoroughly competent for 
the worl^, — these men could guarantee to return 
them 25 per cent, of their contributions, and, with the 
remainder, send out every month a new Company of 
sixty picked Northern men as colonists to the South, 
fully equiped, and furnished with sufficient capital to 
ensure the success of the enterprise. 

Now, to establish even one such colony in each 
county in any given Southern State would, for all the 
practical purposes of the case, be to colonize that en- 
tire State. Well, then, the State of South Carolina, for 
instance, contains 30 counties ; what an easy thing, 
therefore, it would be for New York City alone, to 
colonize, with men of its own choice, the whole State 
of South Carolina in the brief space of about two 
years. That is what one single Northern community* 
could do for an entire Southern State, without put- 
ting any one of its citizens to the slightest incon- 
venience in the matter. Now, extend the operations 
of this plan, until they should embrace every Northern 
community, which could be easily done, and in how 
little time the whole South would be colonized with 

*0r, if we take four in five as the probable proportion of con- 
tributers in any given population, the State of Massachusetts 
could, in this way, raise funds enough within her own limits, 
in about Three Afonths, to colonize the whole State of South 
Carolina. 



16 



picked men from the ranks of the industrial classes 
of the North. Reader, think it over. And then con- 
sider that the Northern People have been "recon- 
structing " the South for the last eight years, at an 
immense expenditure of money, without reconciling 
the first Southern state, city, town, or even village, 
to their views on public matters. 

But, all purely patriotic considerations aside, the 
success of this plan would, in a mere speculative and 
economic point of view, prove highly beneficial to the 
industrial and business interests of the North. Its 
operations, if extended to anything like National 
proportions, would necessarily open a vast field for 
utilizing the immense mass of well disposed and in- 
telligent, but adventurous young energy now wander- 
ing aimless about the North ; they would provide 
acceptable and remunerative employment, at the 
South, for multitudes of Northern working people who 
find it impossible to secure the means of a decent 
support for themselves and their families in their 
present abodes. For, while individual Northern en- 
terprise in that direction is not just now advisable, 
yet thoughout the whole civilized world, there is not 
another so favorable an opening for co operative 
Northern enterprise, if it be united, systematic, and of 
a legitimate character, as the South, in its present con- 
dition, offers to it. Every associated enterprise, such 
as this plan suggests, if judiciously located and prop- 



17 

erly managed for developing the natural resources of 
the South, instead of (as some have done) plunging 
into mad attempts at competition with great Northern 
industries, would handsomely compensate the laborer 
for his work, besides, after the first year, paying cent- 
per-cent. per annum on every dollar of capital invested 
in it. Once settled at the South, the colonists, amidst 
congenial social surroundings that this plan would 
secure to him, could not, with a tithe of the industry, 
fail to secure an ample competency for themselves 
and their dependents, without that incessant toil 
which, for even a scanty and pecarious support, the 
North exacts from every person who depends solely 
upon manual labor.for their livelihood within its great 
centers of population. Thus they would materially 
benefit themselves in all the relations of life, and, at 
the same time, leave a freer field to, and open a new 
market for, the industry of those of their fraternity 
who are established at the North. It would, also, 
give a new and lasting impetus to legitimate business 
of all kinds throughout the whole country. There- 
fore, leaving Southern interests and political consid- 
erations out of the question altogether, this plan de- 
serves the serious attention of the Working men and 
the Business men of the North. 

Of course, it is not at all impossible that a careless, 
indifferent, or prejudiced reader may regard it in an- 
other light. To such, it may, perhaps, appear an 



18 

impractical and Utopian method of dealing with the 
great problem in question, and, consequently, unde- 
serving of any consideration from practical men. The 
careful and unprejudiced reader, however, who really 
understands the very critical state in which the politi- 
cal, the commercial, and the industrial affairs of the 
whole country are placed, by reason of the disorgan- 
ized and discontented condition of Southern society, 
and fully appreciates the great difficulties in the way 
of practical and efficient legislation, whether local or 
National, upon the subject — thus comprehending the 
real character of the numerous and diverse elements 
involved in this Reconstruction problem — will, at 
once, perceive that the plan, here briefly outlined, 
does not present a single impracticable or fanciful 
feature. But that, on the contrary, it is a plain, sim- 
ple, every-day, working plan, which, in fact, it is. It 
takes things just as it finds them. It accepts the 
materials that are presented to it, and, as it were, 
prepared expressly for its purpose. Thus, the men 
are all ready, were the order given, to embark upon 
this projected Southern mission ; the money for it is, 
as we have seen, all ready — aye, in sober truth, it is 
lying "round loose" for the hand of the proper per- 
sons to gather it up — and machinery, so perfectly 
adapted for collecting this money, and, also, for se- 
lecting the right men for this mission, that it would 
be impossible to conceive of any more appropriate 



19 

for those purposes, is all ready. And, further, the 
men who control this machinery have, ere this, risked 
their lives, time and again, in this identical cause, to 
which they are now asked only to devote occasionally 
nothing more than a few of their leisure hours, in order 
that they may secure for themselves and their children 
after them, the fruits of their previous sacrifices and 
exertions in the cause. Is there anything very vis- 
ionary in supposing that these men might set the 
machinery in motion in the desired direction, and 
that a generous and patriotic public would sustain 
them in the matter } If this be visionary, then the 
whole Northern People are now, and have, for the 
last twelve years, been the most visionary of vision- 
ists in their Southern Policy. 

" When the Senate of the United States met on the 5th 
December 1860, for the second session of the XXXVIth 
Congress, there was a long list of absentees from the 
Southern States. Senators Toombs of Georgia, Clay of 
Alabama, Slidell and Benjamin of Louisiana, Mason of 
Virginia, Mallory of Florida, Johnson and Sebastian of 
Arkansas and both the South Carolina Senators were at 
home working up the excitement that swept over their 
section of the country and resulted in the several ordi- 
nances of secession. Most of these absent Senators sub- 
sequently appeared and took their seats. The South 
Carolina members did not. No communication, so far as 
appears from the record in the Globe, was ever received 
from either. They merely neglected to appear. On the 



20 

21st of January 1861, Senators Yulee and Mallory of 
Florida, Clay and Fitzpatrick of Alabama and Davis of 
Mississippi took formal leave of the Senate in carefully 
prepared speeches. Thus was made the first breach in the 
representation of the States of the Union in the Senate, 
that "was but yesterday fully repaired. One by one the 
States came back, but the delay in the readmission of some 
of them continued so long that meanwhile others failed to 
be represented. At last the roll is once more completed. 
Thirty-seven States are represented by seventy-four Sena- 
tors. There have been vacant seats for almost twelve 
years, — ever since the adjournment of the first session of 
the XXXYIth Congress, — several months before the 
election of Abraham Lincoln." — The Advertise}', April 
25th. 

Here we have a compendious epitome of one of the most 
important chapters in all history. So then, at long 
length, the governmental machinery of the Nation is 
once more complete, and in running order. But one 
section of it don't work quite smoothly yet ; and so the 
entire structure is continually exposed to serious danger. 



In another Boston daily, the Herald, April 29, we read : 
" Attorney General Williams has replied to a resolution 
of the House, asking details of the measures taken for the 
enforcement of the Ku-Klux act. He gives little encourage- 
ment to those who want to keep the South under martial law. 
.... He believes that with an influx of emigrants it 
could not be long before all lawlessness and violence grow- 
ing out of political differences, radical antagonisms, and 
social distinctions, would be a thing of the past." 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



001 156 763 •'i 



